


“I thought you were dead.”

by FanficIsLove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cuddles, Denial, Drarry, Fluffy, M/M, a bit of romione, almost-dying, but not actually, it's pretty cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7770580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficIsLove/pseuds/FanficIsLove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the second task for for the Triwizard Tournament, Harry finds Draco unconscious underwater and he has to save him before the runs out of oxygen.<br/>(Based around the time of The Goblet of Fire)</p>
            </blockquote>





	“I thought you were dead.”

Harry couldn't breathe. Well, not on land anyway. His newly formed gills would not allow it, so he dove. He jumped head first into the rushing water, praying that the Gillyweed would last long enough for him to find whatever he was supposed to be searching for. No direct instructions had been given other than that they needed to find a way to breathe underwater, so he had came to the conclusion that there must have been something precious they had to save. Having jumped earlier than the others, Harry had a head start. His flippers propelled him through the harsh current with ease, making a faint but noticeable 'whoosh' sound as they did so. Though he could breathe, his eye sight was still just as poor as it would have been anywhere else. Cursing his father's genetics, he squinted so he could make out his surroundings.

All around him, within a few meters radius, there wasn't much to look at. A bit of loose seaweed floated past his head and what looked like dust of some sort surrounded him. The swim down was fairly uneventful, until a few minutes in. Somewhere Harry could not see, an enchanting yet chilling song began. On the one hand, it made Harry feel uneasy and want to avoid it entirely. On the other hand, he wanted to find the source of the mystifying tune and put his qualms to rest. The latter won and he sped towards the music. He saw nothing for a while, frantically searching the vicinity for anything most of the time, before he saw something swimming in the sea grass far in the distance. He propelled himself forward, sure that whatever the thing was would lead him to wherever he needed to go. Although squinting hard, all he could see was the outline of what seemed to be a human form. Curiously, he kept up his speed so he could get a clear view of what the creature was. When he was close enough to the figure, he could make out it's features: long, straw-like, vibrant orange hair, nightmarish bulging eyes with black slits in them, making them look like it was created by Satan himself and teeth so sharp that Harry was almost certain they could cut through just about anything it wanted, with enough willpower. From Hermione's descriptions, he recognized what the beasts were; they were mermaids. As a young child, Harry had always imagined mermaids as a beautiful woman with flowing, glossy hair and a seashell bra with a colorful tail that complimented her aforementioned shells. However, real mermaids had turned out to be quite the contrary. Haunting devils, they were. But still, he was sure they would help him find his way, no matter how horrifyingly disturbing they looked.

Harry kicked his flippers, going at an unbelievable speed, and one of the mermaids caught sight of him. With it's sharpened pitchfork, it aggressively jabbed directly away from itself. Harry sighed a breath of relief, secretly dreading having to approach it. Up close, he imagined they would look much, much worse. He turned quickly, picking up even more speed to ensure that he arrived earlier than his competition. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what looked like a thick, metal chain attached to the seabed. As he saw closer, he saw that yes, it was. That was exactly what it was. Intertwined iron bars were lined up next to each other in a neat row, attached to bodies of various shapes and sizes. Swimming right up to the bodies, he found that he recognized them all: one was Fleur's sister, another was Cho, another was Hermione and the other was Malfoy. Harry did not expect to see Draco; he was friends with none of the competitors. Krum and Fleur didn't even attend Howarts and he could see no association with Cedric. Though he knew that Malfoy was not friends with Diggory, he could not believe that Harry was meant to save him, considering that everyone, even teachers - especially teachers - knew of their feuds. 

Figuring that one of the others must have made friends with the Slytherin unbeknownst to him, Harry dove towards Hermione and fumbled with her chain. Out of nowhere, a shark gaped at him and drew closer - he retreated and it took Hermione in it's arms and made it's way to the surface, kicking with human legs. Confused, Harry thought that surely Cho was the person he was meant to save. 

Before he could even reach her, mermaids appeared and placed the points of their forks to his neck, angry expressions spreading across their faces like a virus. Shaking their heads vigorously, Harry did not know what to do. From above, Diggory came down with an air pocket covering his mouth. Upon seeing Cho, he untied her left leg and met Harry's eyes again. Tapping his wrist, he let him know that he was running out of time - fast. Nodding him away, Harry looked around desperately. 

The only two people left, Gabrielle and Malfoy, Harry did not think he would have to save. Newly under pressure for time, he figured that Malfoy was who he had to save, seeing as he had no relation to the younger Delacour sister. He fought with the buckle on Malfoy's ankle before setting him free finally. His unconscious body floated slightly, arms stretched outwards, his emerald tie levitating away from his chest. Harry put one arm around the boy's slender frame and pulled him close, trying to keep him from slipping out of his grasp. Now very aware of how little time they had left, Harry searched the waters for any sign of Fleur to save her sister. To no avail, Harry swore and plummeted, fumbling with the iron lock on the small girl's foot. Once released, Harry grabbed her waist tightly and tried to kick hard enough to keep himself moving continuously upward and simultaneously drag both of the senseless people with him. 

Seeing the sunlight shine on the waves, Harry kept going steadily. However, fate seemed completely against him as the Gillyweed wore off and he felt the holes where his gills had previously been filling back up and his feet contorting to his normal feet. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut subconsciously, desperate to make it to the top with all of them alive. Just as he thought he would pass out from lack of oxygen, he broke the water, inhaled heavily and found himself by the bottom of Dumbledore's robes. Teachers gathered around Harry, some of them picking him out of the water as the others tugged Malfoy and Gabrielle to safety. Upon seeing this, Harry breathed a sigh of relief and assured everyone for the hundredth time that he was okay. They suggested that he sit by the other contestants with a towel around his back. As he did so, Fleur rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him, almost knocking all of the air out of him.

"You saved 'er," she said breathlessly, "Even though she was not your 'ostage."  
"Yeah," said Harry, trying to regain his breath after she released him from her grasp. Without another word, she bent down and kissed Harry on the cheek before whispering a quick thank you in his ear and hurrying to Gabrielle's side. Seeing Ron from among the crowd of his peers with his face completely beetroot red, Harry chuckled to himself as he watched Hermione roll her eyes and hit the back of his head, pulling her towel around her.

Looking down at his blue hands that tugged his towel closer to his body, something reminded him of Malfoy in his brain. Even if he was a grumpy git that he still wasn't sure why had been assigned to him, something inside Harry wanted him to check if he was okay. Looking around, he saw McGonagall and various other teachers crowding around the body of a boy with platinum hair. Worriedly, Harry stood hastily (too fast, he noticed when he wobbled and nearly toppled over again) and made his way to Malfoy. Pushing past teachers, he saw that he had not opened his eyes since being rescued. Though Draco was a handful and a half that Harry certainly did not care about in the least, having someone die was not something he wanted to see. Anxiously, Harry took the unconscious boy's hand in his own and checked his pulse. Luckily, he still had one. But that did not settle Harry's concerns; somehow, it made things even worse. Without looking to his teachers, he placed two hands on Draco's chest and started pumping, having basic knowledge on what to do when things like this happened (once again, thanks to Hermione). When the boy didn't respond, Harry put his ear to his chest and listened for a steady beat. The beat was fine, but the boy was not. Lowering his hands slightly, he pumped again. Receiving a face full of water, Harry decided to take it as a good sign. Pulling away, he rested his hands on either side of the pale face that still had not fully awoken yet. He coughed up yet more water, dribbling onto Harry's hands a little, and finally his eyelids popped open. A confused blue met concerned however increasingly relieved green.  
"Potter?" said Draco after a moment, an understandable unsteadiness thick in his voice, "What in Merlin's good--"  
"You were in the Triwizard Tournament, Draco. Mr Potter here saved your life." McGonagall spoke from behind Harry, answering Malfoy's unasked question.  
"What a hero." And Draco was back. He sat up, face collecting its little colour in seconds. Harry's hands slid lifelessly down Malfoy's chest as he rose, earning a questioning eyebrow raise from Draco.  
"Now that you're looking better, I have to speak to Albus. Excuse me." She walked away slowly, followed by the various other teachers that had been at Draco's side.

“I thought you were dead.” Harry spoke his internal monologue out loud accidentally.  
"Well, I'm not. Do don't get too emotional, Potter." Draco's reply was short, cutting them into silence once more. They sat together for a while, neither of them saying anything. It wasn't uncomfortable, no matter how much Harry thought it should have been. After all, it was Malfoy. Malfoy, the Slytherin that hated his guts and wanted nothing more than to embarrass him until he dug his own grave in shame and jumped in it. But something about the quiet was... nice. Soothing, almost. Well, it was until Draco broke it, asking the one question Harry did not want to give an answer to, simply because he didn't have one.  
"Why was I the person you had to save?"  
Harry didn't reply, because he couldn't. What would he have said? He didn't know why himself. Was it some sort of a joke that his professors liked to play?  
"Talkative, Potter, as always." Malfoy huffed, looking in the opposite direction.  
"I don't know." For some reason, Harry didn't want the conversation to end. He wanted to keep talking to Malfoy, even if they did hate each other, "We're not even friends."  
"No, not at all." Malfoy agreed, shaking his head in contradiction. Harry noticed his frail-looking body shaking profusely and felt guilty.  
"Do you..." He began to take his towel off for Malfoy, not finishing his question.  
"No, no, Potter, really." He shrugged nonchalantly, though his body took it as an opportunity to twitch. He cursed.  
"Alright. But you know what the alternative is..." Harry teased, opening his arms wide enough for Malfoy to be able to fit comfortably.  
"No- Potter, pleas--" But his complaints stopped when Harry wrapped his arms around his torso in a warm hug. He cursed again before leaning back into the warmth of Harry's chest. His head rested on his upper chest, some of his pure hair finding its way to Harry's nostrils. Inhaling, Harry smelled something similar to blueberries, if the blueberries had been thrown into a rain cloud. He smiled widely to himself, not quite sure why he felt so happy.  
"This stays between us, yes?" Draco inquired.  
"Of course." Harry confirmed, chuckling lightly. But it would only stay between them for the approximate three seconds it would take Hermione and Ron galloped over, not quite believing their eyes.


End file.
